In Your Head
by theravenclawquill
Summary: Mary-Ann McGarrett is deadset against her brother being with Catherine - and absolutely certain that he belongs with someone like Kono. "I'm in your head..." Mary teased Steve in a sing song voice. Steve x Kono; brief Steve x Catherine
1. Chapter 1

(A/N) Hi all! I know, I know - I said I'd be good just writing original fillers for my other Steve/Kono episode fic... but I couldn't stay away! :) Hehe. Ideas kept bouncing around my head until I got it onto paper. You know how that goes, guys. Haha. Well, anyway, this was one idea that I liked - featuring Mary (a character who has soo much potential, in my opinion). She's going to act as us Kono shippers, pushing Steve and Kono along, hehe. This fic will probably be a 2 or 3 parter. Hope you guys like it. :)

Onwards!

* * *

Mary Ann McGarrett sat up for what had to be the millionth time that night and growled in frustration.

She turned to the wall behind her and cupped her mouth to it, yelling, "Hey, can you keep it down in there? Some of us are trying to sleep?"

Then she sat back and paused, listening. The sounds from the other room continued.

Mary plopped back onto her pillow and groaned. _It's going to be a long night._

* * *

When the morning finally, blissfully, arrived, Mary Ann climbed out of bed, one heavy leg at a time. _Ugh. _

She wrapped a sweater around her bare shoulders and tank top, then sleepily walked towards her childhood bathroom. She realized that since she felt like shit, she probably looked like it, too.

She swung open her door and stopped short.

"Oh!"

Standing in the doorway was none other than Catherine, her brother's Navy girlfriend and one-half the source of her sleepless night. Needless to say, Mary wasn't exactly thrilled to see her. She glanced down briefly at Catherine's attire – one of Steve's big t-shirts and nothing else – and pursed her lips.

"Hi," Catherine started, smiling hesitantly. "I'm Catherine. You must be Mary? Steve's sister?"

For a second, Mary was tempted to lie and say that no, she was Steve's other girlfriend – but decided that that would be low, even for her standards. Instead, she only raised an eyebrow and drawled, "Good night last night?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Old house. Thin walls."

Catherine immediately flushed in embarrassment. She put her face in her hands. "Oh God."

"Yeah, you were saying _that_ a lot last night."

"Ugh. I'm so sorry," Catherine continued, voice muffled against her palms.

"Yeah." Mary narrowed her eyes and smirked. "That's okay, though. I just broke up with my boyfriend, so I'll be bringing a lot of guys around here soon."

Catherine didn't answer. Mary took the opportunity to shoot her a smirk, slide past her in the doorway into the restroom, and slam the door.

* * *

Steve McGarrett was driving to the ME's office when he realized that his phone was ringing. A remnant of a smile still on his face from his good night, he kept his eyes on the road and pressed Talk.

"McGarrett."

"Good morning, Steve." The female voice on the other line was flat, almost accusatory.

Steve exhaled sharply, his eyebrows knitting wearily. _Crap. _"Mary. Are you okay?"

"Oh, you remembered to ask! Because for a second there, I thought you forgot that your little sister was living in your house."

"What are you talking about?"

"There is no food in this house. And I have no money."

_Oh, right._

"Too busy screwing your nasty girlfriend to remember to take care of your guest?"

Steve frowned. "You don't like Catherine?"

"Yeah, I don't even know why. It's not so much that I don't like her… it's more like she annoys the fuck out of me."

"Language."

Mary scoffed. "Thanks, _Dad_," she snapped sarcastically.

There was a long, awful silence.

"God. Sorry," Mary mumbled, voice softening.

Steve sighed, gripping the steering wheel tighter as he followed through a turn. His voice softened too. "Okay, Mary. The keys to the other car are in the desk in my room. And I'll ask Kono to drop by with some food and money for you, all right?"

"Kono?"

"You remember. My teammate."

"Oh, her!" Mary's voice brightened slightly. "Awesome. She's cool."

"Yeah," Steve smiled. "Yeah, she's pretty cool."

"Now that's the type of girl you should be dating, Steve. Hottie who surfs by day and kicks bad guy ass by night? How are you not trying to bang this chick? It's ridiculous."

Steve laughed. "Do you want _me_ to date her, or do _you_?"

"Hah, very funny." Mary paused. Steve could practically hear the smirk in her voice as she continued, "Just know that I got this idea in. Now you can never again look at Kono without remembering this conversation. I'm in your head…" she teased in a sing-song voice.

"I'm hanging up now, Mary," Steve called towards his speaker. And he did, smirking.

* * *

Steve pressed '2' on his speed dial.

The girl picked up on the last ring before voicemail. "Hello?" Kono muttered groggily, obviously having just woken up.

Steve imagined Kono lying in her bed on this beautiful Hawaiian Saturday morning, in a tank top and rolled up pajama shorts, and he instantly felt guilty for dragging the girl up. He grimaced and said, "Kono, I'm sorry to wake you – but seeing as we'll all need to be at headquarters in a little bit, can I ask you to do something for me before work?"

There was the sound of rustling covers. "McGarrett?" she asked, after a pause. "You do know it's Saturday, right?"

_Don't remind me. _"Special orders from the Governor. She called Danny and I over to the ME's office. I'm on my way now. You and Chin were supposed to meet us at HQ in an hour."

Another pause. When Kono spoke again, it was with a playful tone. "And you couldn't let me sleep the extra hour?"

"I know. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have asked, but it's Mary."

"What's wrong?"

"Apparently, a matter of life and death – omelets gone missing from the McGarrett home."

Without missing a beat, Kono deadpanned, "Roger that. So would we classify as a MISPER or a MISEGG?"

"She'll make sure I'm the MISPER if I don't get some food over to her by noon."

They laughed.

"Okay," Kono replied, trace of a smile in her sleek voice. "So I'll pick up some groceries and drop it off, then head over to HQ. No problem."

"Thanks, Kono." Steve exhaled and smiled. "Mary really likes you, you know."

"She does?"

"Yeah." He didn't mention the reason why. His mind drifted to Mary's words – _I'm in your head,_ followed by a brief image of Kono's smiling face, her dimples deepening against her tan skin –and he cleared his throat to recompose himself. "I'll text you my address. Thanks again. See you at headquarters."

He hung up before she could answer. _Damn it, Mary_, he silently cursed, concentrating back on the narrow roads.

* * *

"Hello?" Kono called into the McGarrett house, pushing the door ajar. She didn't know why, but she felt a sense of foreboding; perhaps a vestigial instinct from entering unfamiliar houses on missions. After all, this was the first time in a long while that Kono was entering a house without having a loaded gun in her hands.

Suddenly, Mary popped out into the hallway. "Hey," she greeted with a one-sided smile that matched her brother's. "Kono, right?"

"Right." Kono grinned and held out a bag in response. "And I brought sustenance."

"Oh my God, _thank_ you." Mary practically jumped at it, then backtracked. She frowned and sighed. "Also, I'm really sorry I made you come all the way here. I was kind of a jerk to Steve earlier…. but it was only because I was hungry, I promise. Like, I get cranky when I'm hungry or tired. And I was both; seeing as Catherine stayed over last night." Her eyes rolled to the ceiling.

"Who's Catherine?" Kono asked.

"I am."

Kono and Mary turned around at the sound of the voice. The former was taken aback, the latter looked annoyed. Catherine only looked uncomfortable – even though she was fully clothed now.

"Oh. Hi," Kono greeted her with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Catherine responded, looking wary. "Who did you say you were?"

Kono chuckled. "I didn't. I'm Kono. I work with Steve. His teammate." Her voice went up at the end as if it was a question.

"Oh, _you're _Kono." Catherine smiled. "Yeah, he talks about you a lot."

"He _does, _does he?" Mary cut in, grinning. She was going to have to ask Steve about that later.

"Yeah, but he never mentioned you were a girl. You must be really good at what you do to be able to hang with them."

Kono grinned modestly. "Thanks. I'm okay, I guess. I'm just really thankful to be part of the 5-0 team."

"Of course."

Mary's gaze flitted from Kono to Catherine and back. She smirked mischievously. "Yeah, but all those _long hours together_ with your team? Must get tiring to be around them _all the time_, doesn't it?" She emphasized the words purposefully.

Kono didn't seem to catch on. "Oh, yeah, no, it's all right. We have a good time."

Mary smirked triumphantly.

"Okay." Judging by the look on Catherine's face, she had realized what Mary Ann was trying to do. "Well, I should really be getting back. It was nice to meet you, though, Kono." She gave Kono a smile and then turned to Mary. "Mary, tell Steve I said thanks for the hospitality and I'll see him tonight?"

"Will do."

With a final smile and tiny wave, Catherine slid past the two other women and out the front door.

"Will _not_ do_,_" Mary muttered, once Catherine was out of earshot.

Kono laughed and leaned against the couch. "I'm guessing you don't like her."

"That obvious?"

"Why not? She seems nice enough."

"I know, right? But I just don't think she's _right_ for Steve."

"Oh, really?" Kono smiled. "That's nice of you, being protective of your older brother."

Mary Ann scoffed. "Yeah, it's funny, isn't it? I don't see the guy for ten years, but I still want him to be happy."

"He's not happy with Catherine?"

"Let's just put it this way." Mary folded her arms and smirked. "I think he'd be _much _happier with someone a little more on his level. You know. Someone like you."

Instantly, Kono's cheeks flushed. "What?" she laughed and scoffed, taken aback.

Mary shrugged, as if saying _It's true_.

"Steve's my teammate," Kono demurred appropriately.

"Yeah. Well." Mary smirked mischievously. "Just know that I got this idea in. Now you can never again look at my brother without remembering this conversation. I'm in your head…" she teased, in a sing-song voice.

"Okay, _okay_, I'm leaving now, Mary," Kono called purposefully and loudly, laughing as she headed out the door and smirked in goodbye.

* * *

(A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it. Feel free to let me know what you thought with a review! I love hearing from you all. Thanks for reading, and I'll update soon! :)


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N) Hi all! Thanks for the hilarious, awesome, and kind feedback from my first chapter! Why are HI 50 fans so cool? ;) Special thanks go out to watched 2 much tv, chril1 (HAHA, your review was super nice but also cracked me up! "can't her ship move to the Atlantic, soon?" hahah dying), Pop'n'Pop23, zebraboymom, Green Arrow Girl, amblue36, gleeannie, anonymous, A Sliver of Silver, Sparrowhawk1952 (your wish is my command, hahah), Sweetpea2100, SpnH50Sg, francis2, and rice117! You guys are seriously amazing and awesome. Thanks for the support.

Onwards to Chapter 2! :)

* * *

Steve watched the sun start to set on Waikiki Beach, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. The sky was splashed with streaks of pink and orange, the ocean water was crashing peacefully on the shore below, and the evening weather was still warm but breezy. He was in paradise, and he had a beautiful woman wrapped around him. _How did I get so lucky? _It was hard to imagine that not a few hours earlier, he had been trying to rescue two hostages from a political terrorist. _Just another day in the life, _he mused, with a smirk.

He turned to Catherine, who had her arms draped over him and was gazing at him lovingly with big brown eyes. The remnants of their finished steaks lay next to the steadily dying fire.

"You're amazing," Steve murmured lowly, running a hand through her hair.

"Mm." Catherine closed her eyes languidly and stretched. "And you are too, Commander."

"I missed you today."

"I missed you, too. How did your mission go?"

"Pretty well, considering." Steve exhaled. "We sent Kono undercover and she got the Madame to talk; then we got Robin and the Ambassador out safely from the drop."

"Congratulations." Catherine smiled, then – as if remembering something – cleared her throat. "That reminds me. I, uh, ran into Kono today." Her voice was innocent, but had a hint of deliberation. She watched Steve for his reaction.

He only raised an eyebrow absentmindedly. "You did? That's nice."

"Yeah. She came by the house."

"Right, to drop off groceries for Mary."

"Oh. She must be pretty close with you guys."

Steve slowly sat up a little, giving Catherine a suspicious glance. "Not really. I didn't have anyone better to call, and Mary likes Kono, so…" He shrugged apathetically and let his voice trail off.

The leg that Catherine had had around Steve's leg slid slowly away. "Oh." Her tone was indistinguishable. "I was under the impression that Mary didn't like anyone." She laughed, the cheer not reaching her eyes.

"Was Mary rude to you, Cat? Is that what this is about?"

"No. She just said something that I – never mind. I'm being stupid."

Steve shifted to gaze seriously at her. He put a hand to Catherine's cheek. "What is it?" he murmured.

Sighing heavily, Catherine trained a bleary eye on his. "She just… said something about Kono spending so much of her time with you guys. I could've imagined it, but I swear she was emphasizing the words like there was something… I don't know, that she _knew_ something about you and Kono…"

Steve groaned loudly and roughly ran a hand over his mouth. "You know what?" he said loudly, and with determined conviction. "Don't listen to her, Catherine. Just – Mary just likes to stir up trouble. I wouldn't believe anything she says."

Catherine looked slightly relieved at this, but not completely satisfied. "I don't know why I was so… I mean, I know it's our jobs and all – but a part of me can't help but realize that it _does_ seem like you're always saying goodbye to me and going off to spend your day with a woman a lot younger and prettier than me." She shook her head and chuckled. "Yeah, I know how silly that sounds – but I really can't help it sometimes."

"It _is _silly," Steve said humorlessly. He attempted again to appease her. "I happen to think you're both young and beautiful."

"Do you think Kono's pretty?" Catherine remained petulant, stubborn.

Steve silently cursed at Mary under his breath for his current situation. He sighed, rearranging his eyebrows into a look of apathetic nonchalance. He almost sounded angry when he spoke again. "You're being ridiculous."

"I think she is. Do you?"

"Cather –"

"Answer the question, Steve."

Steve hung his head in surrender. He realized there was no way out of this except to just answer the question. "I – she's… cute, I guess, but that doesn't mean–"

"God." Catherine jumped to her feet, brushing the sand off her pink dress. She shook her head vigorously, brown strands of hair falling into her face.

Steve watched her from his spot on the floor. "Catherine," he called sternly, watching her toss her things angrily into her bag.

"Catherine." Louder this time. No response.

"Catherine, you're being ridiculous." He shifted into persuasive, strict Navy SEAL mode. "There is nothing going on between me and Kono. Okay? Can you just sit down so we can talk about this?"

"I need a little time," she responded, amber eyes blazing. Then, as if realizing that she didn't seem like herself, she paused in her packing, her jacket falling slack in her hands. "I'll call you," she said softly, not looking at him.

And with that, she shouldered her bag and left.

Steve didn't move – but only sat there facing the ocean, clenching his jaw muscles in thought and listening to her sand-muffled footsteps fade and finally disappear.

He didn't look back once.

* * *

Steve couldn't be sure how much time had passed. It could've been minutes or hours, even, that he spent laying on Waikiki Beach by himself. It was calming – peaceful, really – lying in the warm Hawaiian sand and listening to the waves come in. Every so often, Steve would drink a bit of champagne from the half-empty bottle he had originally planned on finishing with Catherine; he was now guzzling haphazardly and directly from it.

He was beginning to feel the warmth of the alcohol kick in when he heard his phone ring. With numbing fingers, he dug it out of his pocket. He glanced at the Caller ID and immediately felt an angry heat build in the back of his chest. He flipped it open.

"What?" he growled into the mouthpiece.

"Wow," came the shocked response. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Yeah," Steve snapped. "Because of what _you_ said to Catherine this morning, Mary. Now she has the idea that something's going on between me and Kono."

"Wait, what? Catherine broke up with you?"

"No. Well, I don't know yet. I mean –" he let out a groan and put a hand to his head.

There was a brief silence. Then Mary said quietly, "God. I'm really sorry, Steve."

Steve exhaled. He couldn't remember the last time Mary had done something to purposely hurt him – even when they were children. He sighed begrudgingly, "I know. I know you didn't mean it."

"Well, do you want some company? We're not doing anything, just lounging around. Where are you?"

Something registered with Steve. "Who's we?" he asked, curiously.

"Me and Kono. She dropped by after work to check on me, and we've just been chilling ever since."

Steve balked, jaw muscles hardening. Kono was not exactly the person he wanted to see right now – though no fault of hers, really. It would just look bad if the girl that he and his girlfriend were fighting over showed up to comfort him. _God. _How_ bad would that look? _

But as the seconds passed and the more Steve thought about it, the more he realized that having company did seem like a tantalizing idea – preferable to being alone when the sun finally went down, anyway. Plus, Mary would be there. Nothing weird about three friends hanging out, island style.

After a long while, he sighed heavily. "I'm at Waikiki Beach. But you guys are going to have to come to me. I don't have much confidence in my motor skills right now."

* * *

"Hey, Boss."

Steve looked up from his blanket. Kono was standing over him, wearing jean shorts and a dimpled smile. The strings from her red bikini were visible underneath her white ribbed tank top.

"Hey, Kono," he replied. He sat up and moved over to give her some room. She dropped lightly onto the blanket and folded her long tan legs. "Thanks for the company. Where's Mary?"

"I don't know," Kono shrugged. "She told me to meet her here. She's probably running late. Did she send you that text too?"

There was a pregnant pause as Steve sat there, feeling his blood slowly begin to boil.

His scrunched up "aneurysm" face must have tipped off to Kono that there was something amiss, because she asked, "What's up?"

Steve half-scoffed and half-laughed in disbelief. "Oh God, I should've seen this coming."

"Seen what?"

"Mary's not coming."

"How do you know?"

"She set us up." Steve shook his head and reached back for the champagne. "Congratulations to both of us; we just got tricked by my little sister."

Kono was silent.

Steve turned to her. "What is it?"

The flush on Kono's face indicated to Steve that this wasn't news to her.

"Kono? Did you know about this?"

"About what, exactly?"

"Mary's strange preoccupation with the idea of us together." Steve cleared his throat slightly here, edges of his ear showing hints of red.

Kono shook her head, but chuckled. "No," she replied honestly, "but you know what? She _did _say something this morning." Her face changed as she realized. "Oh God, I should've seen this coming, too."

"Let me guess – did she say that she got an idea in your head? That you could never look at me the same again?"

Kono's head jerked up at this. "Yeah, exactly," she said, surprised. "How'd you know?"

Steve shook his head. "She said the same thing to me."

They both chuckled and rolled their eyes good-naturedly.

Silence ensued. Kono wrapped her knees to her chest and stared out to sea. At her side, Steve did the same, taking a long swig from the bottle. He stared down at it for a second before holding it out in Kono's direction.

Kono shot him an amused look and took it from him. She drank directly from it, then poured the rest of it on the sand.

"Hey," Steve protested, sitting up.

"I think you've had enough." She smirked.

"I disagree." He attempted to reach over her lap for the bottle, but was stopped by Kono's swift hand holding him back by the head.

Steve paused, then sat back, giving Kono an indignant stare. He raised his eyebrows warningly. "Don't ever do that again."

"Do what?"

A small smirk broke out on his rugged face, and, in one quick motion, he reached up to attack Kono's head. "Don't touch my hair," he chuckled, roughly tousling her hair in retaliation.

Kono giggled, shoving him in attempts to escape from his grasp. But Steve the ninja SEAL was too fast – his free arm reached across her lap and pinned her to the blanket.

Their laughter immediately faded into silence. They were breathing hard, Kono laying on the sand, staring up directly into Steve's blue eyes.

Their faces were inches apart when Steve murmured softly but bluntly, "Catherine thinks that I'm cheating on her."

"I'm sorry."

"With you."

"Oh."

Neither of them moved a millimeter.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime but was, in reality, more along the lines of a few seconds – Steve very slowly retracted his arm and released Kono. They both cleared their throats and returned to sitting position.

The sun was almost entirely set by now, and a slight cool breeze was kicking in. Kono took a deep breath and smiled.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" she finally broke the silence.

"Yeah." Steve smiled. "Forgot how much I missed this place."

Kono turned to him. The breeze billowed through her hair and settled the ocean-air-dried strands against her tan shoulder. She grinned. "Let's swim."

Steve stared. "What?"

"Let's hit the water, brah," she clarified, looking excited. "I used to love coming out here at night when all the tourists go inside and just float around on my board. Whenever I was having problems, it'd clear my head."

Steve squinted out at the water.

"Seriously," Kono grinned, already climbing to her feet. "It'll take your mind off of things. Let's go." She didn't wait for his answer. In one fluid motion, she pulled her tank top over her head, peeled off her jean shorts, and hopped, step by step, across the sand towards the shore.

Steve followed her with his eyes. Kono was running towards the shore now; every step she took sent white particles of sand flying behind her.

_Oh, what the hell. _Steve got to his feet, pulled off his own shirt, and ran after her.

* * *

(A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it. Feel free to let me know what you thought with a review! I sure do love hearing what you guys have to share. Next chapter will probably bring this little ficlet to its happy end. Thanks so much for reading, and I'll update soon! :)


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N) Hi all! Thanks for clicking on the final chapter of this three-shot! I received some excellent feedback from my last chapter that I felt I should publicly address.

Q: How long is this story?  
A: Just three chapters... super sorry! I meant for it to be a one-shot but it kind of filtered on into a three-shot, haha.

Q: Why did Catherine overreact?  
A: Overly suspicious cray cray is overly suspicious. hahaha ;)

Q: Mary is really mean!  
A: Yeah, I can totally see that. But what I was going for more was like a good-intentioned type thing; she wanted to make up for her mistakes by making Steve happy with Kono. And being tricked into hanging out with Kono is definitely not a bad time ;)

Special thank yous go out to: amblue36, Froggie2, Pop'n'Pop23, x0rejects0x, infinitedreamsonly, Sparrowhawk1952, Sweetpea2100, francis2, A Sliver of Silver, SpnH50Sg, rice117, and chril1! You guys are awesome and really keep me going! Kono/Steve shippers unite, whoop whoop. :D

Onwards! This chapter is gonna have hella Steve/Kono action, haha - our favorite. Teehee.

* * *

"Feeling better?"

Steve turned to Kono, who was bobbing in the waves with a smile and salty hair.

He smiled back, treading the water. "Yeah. Love the water here. You can't get this in LA." And it was true. Although LA had its own share of sunny beaches – swimming or surfing was a slight impossibility at night; water temperatures dipped down into the 40's or 50's. But Oahu was an amazing anomaly; no matter how late it got, the Waikiki waters always remained as lukewarm and comfortable as a bath.

Kono grinned and dove headfirst, like a swan diving for food, under the wave that had just rolled by. Steve missed it, and was slapped in the face with a mouthful of salt. When the wave passed, he roughly wiped his face with his hand and laughed.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were small kine haole, shoots," Kono laughed, splashing Steve playfully.

"Shut up," he smirked, splashing her back. "You're forgetting I was a SEAL. I live for the water."

"Oh, I feel you, brah."

They chuckled in appreciation, as they bobbed in rhythm with the swelling waves, up and down, less than a foot away from each other. Steve glanced at the water; he could see the outline of Kono's legs, kicking in close proximity to his own. He was suddenly uncomfortably aware of the fact that, in one move, he could wrap a leg around hers and an arm around the curve of her waist…

Immediately, like an unwanted pest, Mary's face popped into Steve's head – along with her voice, "I'm in your head.._."_

_This is all Mary's fault. _

A pro at reading Steve's facial expressions by now, Kono frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Kono gave him a knowing sidelong glance. "Really? Because you were cursing at Mary under your breath."

"I was?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

Kono looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped. Steve almost wished that she would've just spoken. It would've made it easier.

Instead, she did what she always did in uncomfortable situations and only laughed, as she plunged underwater and disappeared from view.

Steve rolled his eyes and grinned when he felt a tug on his ankle. One quick glance downward at the dark mass hovering by his foot told him that Kono was floating around near him. He chuckled and dove under, kicking after her.

Under the water, sound was muffled – and since Steve didn't want to completely open his eyes to the burning sensation of salt – sight was practically nonexistent. It was a different world – yet he felt right at home. Steve moved around blindly, grinning when his arms made contact with bare skin.

Kono yelped in surprised laughter, as Steve grabbed her by the waist and swung her around so that her head broke the surface of the water. She wriggled around fruitlessly in his arms, but she was held tight. Steve pretended to growl menacingly and, almost effortlessly, flung her light body as far as he could. Kono laughed and landed with a splash a few feet away.

"Ho brah!" she giggled, rising to the surface to catch her breath. "What was that – the Loch Ness monster?"

Steve pretended to look offended. "Nessie?" he called over, as Kono started swimming freestyle back towards him. "I hope you realize Nessie is a girl sea monster. I'd prefer something a little manlier." He gave her a lopsided grin. "Like the Kraken or something."

Kono reached him. "What's Kraken?" she joked, grinning playfully.

Steve caught on. "Nothing, what's Kraken with you?"

They laughed.

"So I assume that means Nessie's available for me." Dimples erupted on Kono's face as she giggled and launched herself onto Steve's broad back, wrapping her arms around his neck in a chokehold and her legs around his waist, in prime roughhousing position.

Kono felt Steve stiffen and inhale a sharp intake of breath. Concerned, she let her grip loosen against him. She flattened her palms against his chest.

"What's up?"

Steve didn't answer, but only kept a hand on her arms as he twisted his body around so that he faced her.

Kono swallowed imperceptibly, trying to avoid Steve's gaze. She wasn't sure if she liked what she thought was about to happen. The sun was fast disappearing below the horizon, casting dark red streaks up into the sky behind Steve's face and bare torso. Her arms were still locked at the wrists behind Steve's neck, her legs falling slack against his back. Even though she had not meant for it to be anything else besides playful, Kono suddenly felt very inappropriate.

Steve's heavily lidded eyes raked over Kono's face, and without thinking, one of his hands reached lightly brushed through the sea-soaked tangled strands of her hair and came to rest at the base of her neck.

"Steve," Kono warned quietly, eyes blazing with stern determination. "Don't. It wouldn't be right."

He shook his head in response. "I know," he muttered under his breath, sounding pained. All the while, his fingers traced the smooth curve of her waist, then up her toned thighs, then wrapped around the loose strings of her bikini – ready to pull them at her slightest assent.

"Don't," Kono repeated, very seriously. Subconsciously, she realized that even though she was saying this out loud, she couldn't quite bring herself to break away from his sturdy embrace. As if trying to talk herself out of this paradox, she repeated again, "Don't."

True to his stubborn nature, Steve widely ignored her and pulled her in, leaving a lingering kiss on the very corner of Kono's lips – making her close her eyes and weaken involuntarily.

This act, in turn, sent a low rumble through Steve's chest, and almost instinctively, his hands moved to her thighs. Unfortunately, being half-submerged in water meant that he couldn't exactly execute everything nature was currently telling him to – leaving Steve slightly frustrated.

"Beach," he murmured huskily, mouth pressed against Kono's ear.

Half melted under his spell already, Kono pried her eyes open slightly. She gasped slightly at a sudden well-placed touch, then she pushed herself out of his arms. "Race you," she grinned, turning around with a splash and allowing the incoming wave to give her the head start.

* * *

Steve and Kono landed on the sand, crashing together as heavily and intimately as the waves that crashed against the shore.

Kono's heart was beating so fast that she was surprised that Steve couldn't hear it. Granted, he was a little preoccupied at the moment – fumbling with the slightly confusing design of her bikini top. "God, who designed this?" he grumbled. "The Rubik's cube guy?"

Kono laughed, but then stopped as she felt Steve's fingers freeze in their work.

"What is it?" She looked up to see his eyes trained on something behind them. Kono readjusted herself and lifted her chin to follow his gaze. She almost laughed aloud when she saw two little boys around ten, sitting halfway up the beach, staring at them with open mouths.

Steve placed an elbow down to balance himself over Kono's body, and raised the other one to the boys. "Hey, go home," he shooed them. "It's late, get going."

They didn't move.

Kono laughed, in spite of herself. Steve was good with guns, cars, and even a football – but one thing he wasn't good with was children.

With surprising skill, Kono grabbed Steve by the shoulders and rolled him over so that she was sitting on top of him. Ignoring Steve's surprised but impressed smirk, Kono laughed and faced the boys. "Don't worry about me, guys," she called out, waving. "We're just playing around. I won't let him win, I promise, okay?"

The boys nodded simultaneously, solemn looks on their little faces.

"Now you guys should probably get going; your parents are probably cooking up some onolicious grinds, eh? Roast beef Saturdays?"

They smiled at this, gave each other a look, then scrambled to their feet and ran off.

Kono smiled and then grinned down at Steve, who was still pinned under her and running his fingers up her bare legs. "Roast beef Saturdays?" he asked, curiously.

"You won't believe this, but they're my cousins. They live on the mauka-side of the big tourist hotels."

Steve let out a loud laugh. "What, is everyone on the island related to you and Chin?"

Kono laughed at that. "Not going to argue with that." She smiled down at him, and not breaking eye contact, leaned over him. Eliciting an appreciative groan from Steve, she placed her mouth on the center of his chest, then traced lightly down to his ribs, then his chiseled abs, then suddenly – stopped at the top of his soaked cargo pants. She pushed her up into a sitting position.

Steve threw his hands up in frustration. "You have got to be shitting me," he exhaled to himself under his breath.

Kono sighed and propped herself on her elbows, resting on Steve's chest. "We shouldn't," she said, running her hands through her hair.

"Why not?"

Kono climbed off of him and rolled onto her back, staring up at the sky next to him. She sighed, picking her words carefully. "I don't think you want to."

"What are you talking about?" Steve wrapped his right leg around hers.

"Things would get messy."

Steve buried his face in the crook of her neck. "I would hope so," he joked, smirking.

Kono giggled. "Stop it." Then she was serious again. "Really, think about it. We work together. We're all like family. You're going through a rough patch with Catherine. You had a whole bottle of Pinot..." Her voice trailed off. "I just – don't want you to have regrets because of me."

Steve lay in silence next to her, body rigid as he mulled over her words for what seemed like a year. He thought about Catherine, remembering her sharp scent and their good times. Then he thought about Kono, how she made him laugh and how her spontaneity constantly kept him on his feet, and what it'd be like to be with her. _Not today._

Finally, he exhaled. "You're right." He gave her a small smile and climbed to his feet.

* * *

When the morning arrived, Mary Ann climbed out of bed, one heavy leg at a time. She wrapped a sweater around her bare shoulders and tank top, then sleepily walked towards her childhood bathroom.

She swung open her door and stopped short.

"Oh!"

Standing in the doorway was a surprised woman, with pretty bed-tousled hair and swollen lips. She was dressed in one of Steve's big t-shirts and nothing else.

Mary folded her arms and stared at her for a second – then broke into a wide, knowing grin. "Ko-no!" she scoffed with a smirk, placing extra emphasis on the second syllable. "Right _on_, girlfriend. Good night last night?"

Kono flushed, folding her arms and chewed on her right thumbnail. "Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't keep you up, did I?"

"No." Mary smirked. "Although from the sound of things last night, you kept something else up."

Kono's eyes narrowed playfully at Mary. She shoved her lightly and muttered, "Oh my God! You are so bad."

"Yeah, I know." Mary gave her a big grin. "That's okay, though. I just broke up with my boyfriend, so I'll be bringing a lot of guys around here soon."

Kono only shook her head and laughed softly to herself. Mary took the opportunity to shoot her a smirk and slide past her in the doorway into the restroom.

Right as she was about to pass Kono, Mary paused and held up a hand.

Kono rolled her eyes good-naturedly and high fived her.

* * *

(A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it. Let me know what you thought! As for the last part, I'll leave it up to the readers' interpretations - you can have it take place that _day _(with Steve being all 'fuck the consequences, I need Kono now' type thing), or you can have it take place a few weeks later (maybe after talking through things and ending it with Catherine). I originally meant for it to be the latter, but I realized the former would be pretty dang cute too. Hehe. :) Anyway, just wanted to thank all of you guys for reading and my wonderful reviewers for reviewing. You guys sure made me smile! Thanks again!


End file.
